Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton: James McCarthy sees red in Selhurst Park stalemate

It was end of season stuff at Selhurst Park, where the hosts failed to capitalise following McCarthy's second half red

Praise for Roberto Martinez might be thin on the ground right now but he deserves some for making the big call over his goalkeeper this season.

Martinez's mid-season decision to put his faith in Joel Robles over club stalwart Tim Howard certainly paid off last night as the ten-man Toffees dug in to earn a point at fellow FA Cup semi-finalists Crystal Palace .

Robles refused to be beaten and produced a number of vital saves as Everton were pinned back in their half after being reduced to 10-men.

The Toffees were forced to play almost 40 minutes a man light after James McCarthy was sent off after being shown two yellows.

But Everton and Robles mounted a rearguard action and held on to earn a point that took them to the 40-point mark.

Rex

Off you go: James McCarthy is given his marking orders

Everton expected much more from this season and this was not the victory that woul have given Martinez a lift ahead of his talks with new owner Farhad Moshiri this week.

But in the circumstances a point was not a bad one.

Palace’s first win in 14 league games against Norwich on Saturday edged them to the brink of safety and eased some of the tension and gloom around the club.

But Everton boss Roberto Martinez has been right under the cosh. The natives are getting restless following a season of underachievement in the league.

And the Toffees boss has been forced to urge fans to back the team rather than demand he be sacked – after being greeted by ‘Martinez out’ banners at recent matches, ahead of a defining period for the Merseysiders.

Everton face Southampton, Liverpool and Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final and Martinez desperately needed some momentum from their trip to Palace going into that run, that starts on Saturday – not another setback.

PA

No way through: Lukaku is held off by Dann

He would have been worried early on at Selhurst Park. Everton made a sloppy start while Palace began like a side with renewed belief after their morale-boosting Norwich win.

Yannick Bolasie, who started in a front-two with Dwight Gayle, tested Joel Robles first for Palace with a low shot after they were gifted possession by Arouna Kone’s poor pass.

Ross Barkley then gave the ball away and was relieved to see Gayle stab wide from Wilfried Zaha’s incisive pass.

After a couple of half-hearted efforts from Barkley and Seamus Coleman which Palace ­comfortably dealt with, Everton eventually warmed up.

Reuters

Gayle force: Dwight Gayle attempts the spectacular

Wayne Hennessey was called into action properly for the first time when he got down sharply to shin Coleman’s volley behind.

Kone’s 20-yard blaster fizzed just over Hennessey’s bar before the Wales stopper topped his first save by rushing off his line to deny Romelu Lukaku one-on-one.

Palace finished the first half on top and were twice inches away from going ahead, first from Gayle’s overhead kick and then when Ramiro Funes Mori swiped Zaha’s cross just over his own bar.

Everton made a promising start to the second half when Barkley crashed an effort against the bar.

But their momentum was checked when McCarthy saw red after picking up a second yellow for a crude body-check on Bolasie.

Palace dominated after but Robles denied Puncheon twice with excellent saves, Emmanuel Adebayor headed wide and then over late on after fellow sub Connor Wickham also blew two chances in quick succession.

Barclays Premier League

Pos	Logo &Team	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Leicester City	33	21	9	3	57	31	26	72
2	Tottenham Hotspur	33	18	11	4	60	25	35	65
3	Arsenal	32	17	8	7	55	33	22	59
4	Manchester City	32	17	6	9	58	33	25	57
5	Manchester United	32	15	8	9	39	30	9	53
6	West Ham United	32	13	13	6	52	40	12	52
7	Southampton	33	14	8	11	44	34	10	50
8	Liverpool	31	13	9	9	50	42	8	48
9	Stoke City	33	13	8	12	37	43	-6	47
10	Chelsea	32	11	11	10	49	42	7	44
11	Bournemouth	33	11	8	14	40	55	-15	41
12	Everton	32	9	13	10	52	43	9	40
13	Swansea City	33	10	10	13	34	42	-8	40
14	West Bromwich Albion	32	10	10	12	31	39	-8	40
15	Watford	32	10	8	14	31	37	-6	38
16	Crystal Palace	33	10	8	15	35	42	-7	38
17	Norwich City	33	8	7	18	35	57	-22	31
18	Sunderland	32	6	9	17	36	57	-21	27
19	Newcastle United	32	6	7	19	32	61	-29	25
20	Aston Villa	33	3	7	23	23	64	-41	16